Star Wars Battlefront II has entertaining multiplayer modes and great visuals, but it is held back by a convoluted upgrade system and the impending return of microtransactions.

Cinematic Locations

The original Star Wars Battlefront II from 2005 holds a special place in the memory of Star Wars fans and gamers alike. The newest bearer of the name hopes to recapture some of that past glory and improve on the shortcomings of 2014's Star Wars Battlefront reboot. However, an uproar over this first-person shooter's included microtransactions tanked its reputation at launch, reportedly inspiring a massive number of preorder cancellations. EA quickly reversed course and temporarily removed all microtransactions from the game on the eve of its release, but it seems likely the system will return in some form. The entire controversy is a shame, since this PC game has top-notch environments, multiplayer modes, and mechanics.

Pricing, Microtransactions, and Progression

As noted, EA temporarily suspended the microtransaction system it had implemented in the game to rework it in the wake of massive player criticism. Players had the option to spend real money to purchase crystals, which could then, in turn, be used to buy loot boxes. Loot boxes then yielded Star Cards of two varieties, Epic and regular ones. Simply put, microtransactions are seriously detrimental to any game since it breeds a pay-to-win mentality, adds significant cost to an already full-priced title, and encourages players to essentially gamble for loot-box content.

For now, the crystal-based system has been temporarily removed to be improved, and Epic Star Cards can only be crafted. Star Cards are used to enhance character, class, or vehicle abilities. You currently earn them by unlocking them through player progression. With each match you play, you also earn credits that can be used to unlock characters and special vehicles. EA also recently decreased the cost of these heroes, so that the maximum levels are at 15,000 credits (more on that later). You can also purchase loot boxes outright with in-game credits or obtain them by completing certain milestones, which will unlock cosmetic items and grant you resources for crafting Epic-level star cards.

Within a multiplayer match, your player level determines the weapons that you can use. You also earn Battle Points for performing specific actions or eliminating an enemy, which unlocks special characters and vehicles for use during that battle. Some unlocks are only available once you reach a certain skill level.

While this system is not as terrible as it was, it is still ridiculously complicated and convoluted. You also still need to put in a fair number of hours to unlock any one of the coveted characters or equip any of the game-changing abilities.

Platforms and Menus

The game is available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the PC. On PC, the game requires a whopping 60GB of hard drive space. The game recommends that you have 16GB of RAM at your disposal and either an AMD RX 480 4GB GPU or an NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB. You should also have a CPU equivalent to or better than the Intel I7-6700K. I tested the game on a Dell Inspiron 5675 PC equipped with an RX 580 8GB GPU and a Ryzen 1700X CPU, playing at 1080p and did not notice any significant lag.

After the lengthy download, you can get right into either the single-player campaign, any of the multiplayer modes, or the arcade section without any trouble. There's no additional registration required and nothing to get between you and the content. I appreciate the clean dashboard and the clean menu-navigation system.

Compact Campaign

In Star Wars Battlefront II, you switch over to the dark side and play as Iden Versio, an Imperial Commander sometime between the events of The Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. You start off on a mission to escape the confines of a rebel ship and to retrieve a top-secret message, and the action escalates from there. Throughout the course of the campaign, you travel to Endor, Pillo, and Naboo and encounter epic space battles in between. Although much of the game revolves around the action-shooter concept, sometimes you take control Versio's droid or pilot a TIE-fighter in fast-paced space dogfights, which provides a welcome change of pace.

I have not had the chance to play the entire story yet, but it is moderately engaging thus far, though it mostly relies on an existing emotional investment in the franchise. Basically, if you like Star Wars, then you will enjoy the campaign. If you are indifferent to the space saga, then it probably doesn't do enough to entice newcomers. Initial estimate place the campaign play time at around five hours, which feels short for an AAA title. Still, this is an improvement over the 2014 entry, which did not have a single-player campaign at all.

I have encountered some minor annoyances so far. For example, one of the primary ways you progress through a level or perform an action is by instructing your droid to do all work. This includes mundane tasks like unlocking doors, securing vehicles, or hacking terminals. A puzzle mechanic at some of these points could diversify the experience; as is, it gets repetitive quickly. Further, although the game lets you choose from a variety of weapons at most checkpoints, and I wasn't able to switch weapons between those sections or during a firefight. Also, the missions I've played so far aren't particularly difficult, which hurts the experience.

Massively Multiplayer

Most people who buy Star Wars: Battlefront II will spend their time playing one of the many multiplayer modes. There are six main modes: Heroes vs. Villains, Galactic Assault, Arcade, Strike, Blast, and Starfighter Assault. However, it is missing the excellent Hero Hunt and fun capture-the-flag modes from the previous entry.

The most approachable, Galactic Assault, is a 20-on-20, objective-based mode that lets you choose between fighting on the ground and attacking from the air. Heroes vs. Villains is a 4-on-4 mode, which pits the most iconic and powerful Star Wars characters against one another in close combat. I enjoy the Starfighter Assault mode the most though, which has two teams of 12 players each take control of various Starfighters in an all-out dogfight in space.

There are 11 multiplayer locations including Death Star II, Endor, Hoth, Jakku, Kamino, Kashyyyk, Naboo, Star Killer Base, Takodana, Tatooine, and Yavin. Not all of these locations are available in every mode, but I got to experience a wide range of locations anyways. During one Galactic Assault match, I was taken aback by the environment detail and overall atmosphere of Tatooine (more on the visuals later). The feeling of rushing to prevent a rebel ship from taking off alongside teammates is pure and simple fun.

You start off each match with generic characters in either the officer, specialist, assault, or heavy class. Each class has three unique abilities at their disposal, which range from things like protective shields, healing powers, and powerful grenades. Once you earn up enough points in a match, you can switch to one of the 16 heroes in the game, so long as there are not too many other players using that character already. The character list includes all the fan favorites such as Boba Fett, Han Solo, Lea Organa, and Yoda. However, not all of these characters are unlocked from the start, which is a major pain. Coveted characters, such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, originally required a ridiculous number of credits to unlock, but EA has reduced the cost of top-tier characters to a more reasonable 15,000 credits. Still, for a game that costs $59.99 at the cheapest, it is ridiculous that so many characters are locked.

For the Starfighter Assault mode or any that let you take control of a ship, you choose between Fighter, Bomber, and Interceptor classes. Some ships of note include the X-Wing, TIE Bomber, and A-Wing. Other special ships that you can unlock in the same way as with the Heroes, are Rey's Millennium Falcon, Kylo Ren's The Silencer, and Yoda's Jedi Starfighter.

I like how quickly the game added me to matches in testing, as well as the solid server performance I experienced. Also, I appreciate that the game at least makes an effort to encourage teamwork by matching you up with a group of up to five other players every time you respawn. The problem is that it's not immediately clear how to actually stick with the group before everyone scatters.

I most enjoy the multiplayer experience for its variety of modes and trudging into increasingly chaotic situations. Still, I think it would benefit from more clearly defined objectives and it frustrating how often it drops me into an already-in-progress match. Further, the game has some serious problems with player balance. Although EA temporarily removed microtransactions, which took away some of the most egregious advantages with paying for StarCards, some of the heroes are still vastly overpowered. Also, if a player or team does particularly well in the first half of the match and unlocks the special heroes, ships, or vehicles first, it can be almost impossible for the other side to recover.

Cinematic Visuals

Star Wars Battlefront II looks incredible outdoor locales look incredible. The dense forests of Endor are fully detailed, and sprinting behind giant tree trunks for cover beneath a thick canopy of treetops feels decidedly cinematic. The lighting and sky look also create a wide-open atmosphere. On the other hands, the interiors of buildings and bases aren't as impressive. Although it's likely due to the aesthetic that these locations are meant to emulate, they just feel bland. For example, the Death Star II location incorporates sharp textures and reflections, but the dark corridors feel gloomy and lifeless. Obviously, the Death Star may not be meant to be the liveliest place, but it seems drab compared to other locations.

Everyone remembers the horrific facial animations and proportions from the EA's ill-fated Mass Effect: Andromeda; I'm happy to report that these issues don't plague Battlefront II. Some facial features look unnatural, particularly around the mouth and jaw areas, but the proportions are mostly accurate and none of the characters looked comically misshapen. The game renders character with impressive detail, and they look true to their cinematic counterparts.

One of the coolest effects is the brilliant and chaotic display of laser projectiles in intense firefights. I often have difficulty determining where danger originates, which adds to the chaos. Further, special effects like explosions and smoldering space debris help build out the atmosphere and actually make me want to explore the various locations in peace, away from the battles.

Mechanics, Weapons, and Sounds

As you may have gathered, Star Wars Battlefront II feels very much like a Battlefield game. The same EA DICE development team created it on the same Frostbite 3 Engine. What that means is that the shooting and moving mechanics are all solid and benefit from years' worth of development. Everything from firing a weapon to crouching behind cover feels smooth. In fact, the only time I had any trouble adjusting to any controls was when I first attempted to fly a TIE-fighter. It may take a couple of tries, but its controls are responsive, so you should have no trouble getting up to speed.

Players can choose between first- and third-person camera perspectives in the campaign, but it's ultimately up to personal preference as there aren't any particular advantages to either. I mostly stick with the third-person mode the majority of the time and like that it tracks and rotates around my movements with very little tearing or stutters. The first-person camera mode is not available in any of the multiplayer modes that I tried.

I appreciate that none of the weapons are locked down and you can choose whichever one suits your play style in the campaign, but again I hate that most are locked down in the multiplayer mode. This just creates a further player imbalance that favors people who have been playing longer over people who might be more skilled but have logged fewer hours.

Of course, this wouldn't be a Star Wars game without John Williams' iconic scores, which are used intermittently. The music only plays in the main menu and during respawn screens during multiplayer; I wish it were more prevalent in the game. The voice acting is fine. The dialogue and delivery aren't particularly memorable, but it's good enough to move the experience along. Weapons and explosions sound potent and slice through the air crisply.

Potential for Greatness

Star Wars Battlefront II is off to a rocky start, to say the least, but the underlying experience is now enjoyable. The multiplayer modes are fun to play, the exterior locations look stunning, and the mechanics mostly feel tight. However, if EA decides to bring back microtransactions in a big way or doesn't simplify the progression system, then this development effort could all be in vain. I sincerely hope that EA doesn't release a new multiplayer Star Wars game every two years; it would be much better off iterating on this platform, by adding with new multiplayer game modes or single-player experiences.

Cinematic Locations

The multiplayer locations look spectacular and feature excellent levels of detail. The atmospheric lighting and skybox create a wide-open feeling to the locations.

2

Heroes and Villains

Originally, EA set very high limits for unlocking the game's highest-tier characters. Those policies have since been revised to make unlocking them more reasonable.

3

Join the Dark Side

The single-player campaign experience starts you off on the dark side. You play as Imperial Commander Iden Versio as you complete missions across a number of planets.

4

Player Classes

You start off each match with generic characters in either the officer, specialist, assault, or heavy class. Each class has three unique abilities at their disposal, which range from things like protective shields, healing powers, and powerful grenades.

5

Chaotic Multiplayer

The game has six main multiplayer modes, which combine all sorts of ground and aerial combat. Rushing to prevent a rebel ship from taking off alongside teammates is pure and simple fun.

6

Visual Effects

One of the coolest effects is the brilliant and chaotic display of laser projectiles in intense firefights. Further, special effects like explosions and smoldering space debris help build out the atmosphere.

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Kevin Sebastian is a passionate writer who lives and breathes on the internet. He started out as a Reddit lurker and eventually made his way to editorial. His curiosity for the region's burgeoning tech scene lead him to editorial positions in various tech publications managing content in technology and gaming. While Kevin is not writing or ranting about the gaming or tech industry, you can find him in far off deserts trying to practice his astrophotography, or in the city making documentaries. More »